Tag: casino history

1946-1947 On the third Tuesday of April 1946, after work at the Southern Pacific Shop in Sparks, Nevada, Sam Lemel took the bus to Reno and went to Harolds Club where he played craps. He began by betting two half-dollars, which he lost. He left the casino and returned a bit later, only to lose […]

1929 Le Casino Municipal in Cannes, France broke its record in January for the highest amount of money (in chips) in play at a baccarat table — $1 million ($14.3 million today). “Though individual bets seldom ran over 200,000 francs or $8,000, almost every five minutes saw $50,ooo change hands,” reported The New York Times […]

1934 After Nevada legalized gambling in 1931, a faction opposed to the industry fought to have it eradicated. “A group of Nevada citizens felt there was a growing protest against the injury being done our state by gambling — not only because of the evil done in depriving needy citizens of their depressed earnings without […]

1941 Ten years after Nevada legalized gambling and shortened the residency requirement for divorce from six months to six weeks, Montana took steps to compete. Bills to legalize gambling and to allow 30-day divorces were introduced to the state legislature. Neither made it through, leaving dude ranchers and many others upset about the potential economic […]

1883-1884 A gambling affinity, in part, did in Everton J. Conger’s career as associate justice of the Territory of Montana. President Chester A. Arthur suspended him in March 1883. Conger had served three years in that role, beginning in 1880. Along with his penchant for playing games of chance, legal there at the time, reasons […]

1972 A Pinto, Javelin, Chevelle and Datsun 240Z — Harrah’s hotel-casino in Reno, Nevada gave away these cars and cash in four weekly drawings for $35,000 worth of prizes ($205,000 today) over the winter holidays in 1972.

1959 In February, The New York Times outed Clifford A. Jones. It brought to light that he held gambling interests in and out of Nevada, which The Silver State’s gaming law then prohibited. It was no secret that Jones owned shares in the Thunderbird, Palace Club, Golden Nugget and Lucky Strike casinos in Las Vegas. […]

1933 When panhandling in Bakersfield, California, an Arthur J. Hayden received 25 cents ($4.70 today), which he took to a casino and parlayed into $690 ($13,000 today). The next day he grew his winnings to $1,000 ($19,000 today), which he put in a postal savings account. When he went back to begging on the street, […]

1924-1932 The story of the estate of a long-ago Nevada gambler after his passing is strange and unfortunate. John Quinn was a man who’d lost and made large fortunes in gambling and mining stock deals throughout The Silver State and other parts of the West. He’d opened the first saloon-gambling house in the mining town […]

1954 Arthur R. Schultz of Ely, Nevada, who’ previously had held a gambling license for slot machines, asked then District Attorney of White Pine County, Jon R. Collins, to rule on whether or not a coin-operated bowling machine (think early version of Skee Ball) constituted a gambling device. Because the machine dispatched tickets that could […]